Ohio's next attempt at election reform has to be fair and meaningful: editorial

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted and Democratic State Sen. Nina Turner have differences over how elections should be run, and the Republican side of the General Assembly is expected to propose its ideas, too.

Given the partisan bickering, litigation and confusion that surrounded voting rules in Ohio last year, the new General Assembly has little choice but to wade into the thicket. The question is whether Republicans and Democrats will seek common ground to help Ohioans exercise their rights -- or settle in for another round of political warfare.

State Sen. Nina Turner, the Cleveland Democrat who was a vociferous critic of Secretary of State Jon Husted last year and may run against him in 2014, already has offered a bill that encapsulates her party's wish list. It would lock in expansive early voting -- even preserving the "golden week" when an Ohioan can fill out a registration application and a ballot on a single trip to the Board of Elections. Early voting offers a perceived edge for the Democrats, and the GOP worked to curtail it last year. Many Republicans would like to scrap it altogether.

Turner's legislation would also codify several good things Husted already has done, including mailing an absentee ballot application to every registered voter and allowing online address updates. It also would allow Ohioans to register via the Internet, a reform that Husted favored but that was deep-sixed by legislative Republicans after he helped derail one of their pet issues: a photo ID requirement at the polls.

Republicans have yet to offer an elections bill, although GOP Rep. Mike Dovilla of Berea, who chairs the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee, says he expects another push for photo ID, as well as other changes. Husted has said he continues to favor scaling back early voting -- especially on weekends -- and wants uniform hours in all 88 counties. But uniformity isn't the right measure of fairness or efficiency, especially in more populous counties -- Cuyahoga and Summit -- where early voting reduces lines on Election Day.

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Given lopsided Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, Turner's bill is going nowhere -- at least intact. But if GOP legislators are smart, they'll mine some of her better ideas, such as using the Internet to improve record-keeping and encouraging large counties to establish multiple early-voting sites.

What Republicans shouldn't do is revive their tactics of 2011 -- party-line votes ramming through changes blatantly designed to stack the deck against Democrats. They also should drop the photo ID requirement, a hot-button idea that polls well, but presumes to address a problem -- voter impersonation -- that is rare and that is already a crime. Most Ohioans without official ID are poor or elderly, not cheaters out to tip an election.

This time around, majority Republicans need to listen -- to Democrats, local election officials and legal experts. The goal of every reform should be fair access and less confusion -- not necessarily strict uniformity and certainly not partisan advantage.

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